PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 25, 2025
Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act of 2025
This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and increases funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP). This Natural Resources Conservation Service program provides state and tribal governments competitive grants to encourage owners and operators of privately-held land (i.e., farm, ranch, and forest land) to allow public access for hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-dependent recreation.
The bill also reauthorizes through FY2029 VPA-HIP funding to encourage public access to land covered by wetland reserve easements through agreements with states and tribal governments.
People & committees
Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] · D–MI
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-25 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would direct $150 million in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to the voluntary public access and habitat incentive program for fiscal years 2025–2029. Within that total, it would require, to the maximum extent practicable, $3 million to encourage public access to land covered by wetland reserve easements through agreements with States and tribal governments.
Voluntary public access and habitat incentive program
Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $150,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
To the maximum extent practicable, of the funds made available under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use $3,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to encourage public access to land covered by wetland reserve easements under section 1265C through agreements with States and tribal governments under this section.
The proposal is titled the Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act of 2025. It would replace the existing funding subsection of section 1240R of the Food Security Act of 1985.
This Act may be cited as the Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act of 2025.
Section 1240R of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb–5) is amended by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following: (f) Funding
The replacement would require the Secretary to use $150 million from Commodity Credit Corporation funds to carry out the program. This is a mandatory funding direction for the entire fiscal 2025–2029 period, rather than $150 million each year.
(1) Mandatory funding Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $150,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
Within the $150 million, the Secretary would have to use $3 million over fiscal years 2025–2029, to the maximum extent practicable, to encourage public access to land covered by wetland reserve easements under section 1265C. This would operate through agreements with States and tribal governments; the funding would be part of the total, not an additional $3 million.
To the maximum extent practicable, of the funds made available under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use $3,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to encourage public access to land covered by wetland reserve easements under section 1265C through agreements with States and tribal governments under this section.
The supplied action snapshot, updated December 5, 2025, records introduction and referral to the House Committee on Agriculture on February 25, 2025, followed by referral to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit on March 28, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-12-05T22:01:30Z. 2025-03-28: Referred to the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit. 2025-02-25: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. 2025-02-25: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-25. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish attachment history or the contents of other materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Program funding alone does not establish an earmark, and this conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment beyond the program's intended coverage was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Dec 5, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI